Opinion

BY CLAIR WHITTY We are in the season once again of colds and flu, stuffy noses, and viral infections. Here are some tips to get you through this season as healthy as can be. A healthy diet rich in antioxidants is a great place to start. Antioxidants help protect the cells in the body from …

CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE By Judith Ashton What is the most important thing that your kids should eat?   According to Canadian micro-biologists, B Brett Finlay and Marie-Claire Arrieta the answer appears to be some plain good old healthy dirt according to their book “Let them eat dirt: Saving your child from an over sanitized world.” …

BY JOHN ELLIS, FINANCIAL ADVISOR For business owners, landlords, and high-earning professionals, Small Self-Administered Pension Schemes (SSAPs) have long been a beacon of financial autonomy. These schemes, typically used by proprietary directors, offer unparalleled flexibility in retirement planning allowing investments in diverse assets like property, stocks, and commodities. However, new regulations set to take effect …

FURTHERMORE By Gerry Moran We met in O’Riada’s pub most Wednesday nights. There were five of us: Pat Delaney, Jimmy McGarry, Bill and Ann Hehir and myself. Peig, our landlady, and the owner of O’Riadas at the time, called us ‘The Wednesday Night Gang’. And I guess we were. Sometimes we were joined by Nicky …

AS I SEE IT BY MARIANNE HERON Congratulations to Catherine Connolly, who began her Presidential campaign early, worked hard and won hearts. That she is our 10th President is due partly to circumstance: the effect of our convoluted nomination system, combined with misjudgements by the two main parties. Had it been otherwise, there might have …

THE FACT OF THE MATTER BY PAUL HOPKINS In the hamlet where I lay my head, when Russia invaded Ukraine my neighbours opened their doors and hearts to refugees fleeing for their lives. Committees were set up, as were social media pages dedicated to finding a home, a refuge, to women and children who had …

BY CLAIR WHITTY It’s that time of the year when the dreaded note about head lice comes home in the school bag, telling you that you will need to check your children’s hair. Lice are small insects that measure about 3mm – they can be yellow, brown, or white in colour. Nits are the empty …

BY JOHN FITZGERALD Callan has said goodbye to a saintly nun who was also an exceptionally gifted teacher and author. Sr. Assumpta Saunders was for decades a leading light at the Convent of Mercy in Callan. She passed to a better world at the age of one-hundred on October 19th while in the care of Waterford …

CHOICES SHAPE YOUR FUTURE By Judith Ashton Exactly a year ago I had a routine DEXA scan to check the density of my bones. I have always had a good diet, am extremely active, have always danced, neither drink nor smoke and was shocked to learn that I had severe Osteoporosis. Big shock! However, there …

This poem, as they say, is inspired by real events but peppered (well peppered) with poetic licence. I wrote the poem for one of Kilkenny’s leading actors (and directors) Mary Craddock. Mary recited it in a seductive French accent wearing a short black mini-sat an event called ‘King of the Castle’. Alice I’m called – …